I'm looking into the lesco 48" wb hydro and a 60" Z rider. they look like they are well made and they seam to drive fine. I'm new to the commercial mowing business so its hard to tell what to get and the price seams really good. Does anyone have exp with how they cut and if they are better than the older models which some people dont like? There is also a grasshopper dealer here and they dont seam to be better but they are alot more money. Oh I have 23 church propertys around 10-25k sqft and 4 fields around 1 1/2 - 3 acres. thanks for any help.

LB Landscaping

11-06-2002, 04:50 PM

I looked at some Lesco equipment yesterday, its looks to be very well made. Although I have not had any experience with Lesco from what I have heard they build the products very well.

lawnkid

11-06-2002, 05:02 PM

Do a search on Lesco mowers first and see what that brings you. Most people thought that Lesco mowers were crap but are now realizing that they aren't so bad.

LakeSide Lawn and Landscape

11-06-2002, 05:07 PM

I have no personal experiance with lesco but i know another L.C.O that has been in business for 9 years and all he uses is exmark z mowers and lesco walkbehinds.Hope this helps

Boycea

11-06-2002, 05:13 PM

I currently use a 48" lesco hydro walk behind with a two wheel sulky from lesco and am very happy with the product

Santa

11-06-2002, 06:26 PM

We have three Lesco W.B.'s with Lot's of hour's on them with no problems. All are older machines, 6 to 8 yrs. old. They are maintained regularly. Replacement item's have included blade belt's, (once a year) a couple of idler pulley's, one set of blade spindle's, filter's, and two base gasket's on the kawasaki motors We paint our mower's every winter to keep them looking good. Again, these machine's have thousand's of hour's on them.

Envy Lawn Service

11-06-2002, 07:35 PM

Does this look familiar?

Envy Lawn Service

11-06-2002, 07:38 PM

How about this?

Envy Lawn Service

11-06-2002, 07:39 PM

Or this? Just a horse of a different color don't you think? Lesco has way way better pricing though!!!

wriken

11-06-2002, 07:44 PM

I have a Cub comm. M-60 tank, and a 48"w/b hydro, which are the same thing, both work great for me. I will be probably be getting the lesco z2 60" this spring, they are about 1300 cheaper, my cub dealer can't figure how they sell them so much cheaper than he can. He says that price is lower then he can buy a cub. He told me he can't blame me for buying lesco. I am very pleased with the cubs that I own. Also you don't have to buy or make a striping roller for them, they come standard with it, the tank ztr's anyways.

Envy Lawn Service

11-06-2002, 08:09 PM

wriken,

Please tell me you have some lawn pics you can put up that were cut with the Tank!!!

TJLC

11-06-2002, 08:17 PM

I demoed a Lesco w/b 48" 17 Kawi e/s. I currently own Exmark w/b's. I felt the Lesco w/b was nice for the money but didn't quite measure up to the Exmark. I felt there was room for improvement on the Lesco model. (I'm not saying Exmark makes the perfect machine, either.) I also think the warranty is better on the Exmark. IMHO the Lesco would be a very good backup mower but not for everyday use, unless they make a few changes. Good luck. This is my own personal opinion.

wriken

11-06-2002, 10:25 PM

Envy, I'll have to look and see if I have any pic, but I'll say there as good as scags, exmarks or any other out there. I'm not bashing the other brands, probably if I had good dealer support I would buy just about any brand. They pretty much all have the same parts like pumps etc. I believe Cub owns hydro pumps and i believe of the other brands of mowers use them, if thats the case theres alittle cub in those brands. again I think theres alot of good mowers out there.

Trav

11-06-2002, 10:58 PM

thanks for the replys guys. It really helps. Envy, are you saying you dont like the cut of the cubs or lesco mowers as much as others? thanks Travis

Great mowers, Let the mower run for a couple mins. in the morning to get the hydro flid flowing thru the pumps.
Only problems I've had are minor, flat tires, lost pins,greese fittings & other "carless operator" things. I did have the hydro engine pully break on me. Lesco fixed it at no charge.
The guys at the local Lesco here are great.

Heller Landscaping

11-06-2002, 11:02 PM

I have a bob-cat ransomes and I like them a lot. Another guy in my area uses Lesco and swears by them. He rates them over Toro which he also has. Except for regular maintenance he has no other problems with his Lesco mowers. Hope this helps.:)

Got Grass?

11-06-2002, 11:05 PM

Another one.... I have much better pictures on my other computer I'll post later.

Envy Lawn Service

11-07-2002, 12:06 AM

Travis,

No I wasn't trying to imply that at all. In fact if I was ready to by right now while the sale is going on (if it still is) I'd have one myself. For the money you can't beat it.

The reason I put up the Cub pics is to show they are the same thing. The 48" Tank will cost you $6,000 + Tax right now here and that's end of season sale price. You can get a 60" over at Lesco for that.

Wanna know what Cub MSRP is for what you are looking at? Go to the site and click on Cub commercial up top. I think you'll be shocked!

Trav

11-07-2002, 12:41 AM

Thanks for the input. this site is awesome. Travis

Buckeye1

11-07-2002, 07:13 AM

Are the 2001 Lesco, MTD Pro and Cub Commercial walkbehinds all the same machines?

I have heard (i think on this site) the only difference is the color.

geogunn

11-07-2002, 08:11 AM

Originally posted by TJLC
IMHO the Lesco would be a very good backup mower but not for everyday use, unless they make a few changes. Good luck. This is my own personal opinion.

tjlc--in your opinion, what are the changes that you feel that lesco ought to make in order to make it a "every day use" mower?

trav--as for my experience with the hydro I have none.

but my experience with the 48 belt has been good. that machine is tough and gets the job done.

but if you are looking for a mulcher, buyer beware! mine sucks for mulching leaves but mulches grass fine.

the old KAW 14 is getting a little tired, I am thinking of a remotor to the 17.

buy that 52 hydro!

GEO

wriken

11-07-2002, 09:19 AM

Buckeye, there all the same.
envy, I probably don't have any pics, but they look as good as whats under your name.

The prices on the cub site are alot more then what my dealer sells them for Ex. M-60 $7300.00, I think there 8400? on the web. Also he has some 52" belt w/b's for around 1800.00 thats a good deal, there brand new. But for 6000 I'll get a lesco, will be interesting if a warrenty issue comes up as far as lesco, I' ve only seen 1-2 guys everytime I've been to a lesco, but then again I've been lucky my cub has been very trouble free. Did have a set of coils put on the kaw motor but that was because of the air filter kit I bought, and they did'nt say anything about changing jets or sending me jets. We thought the coils were going bad, so they replaced them both.

wriken

11-07-2002, 09:27 AM

Oh ya by the way since 7-01 my tank has been the #1 bread winner, not a back-up

Turf Technologies

11-07-2002, 03:17 PM

I have the 52 hydro 19 wb for two weeks now its 100$ more then the 48 with a 17 kaw , and what a diffrence that 2 extra horse make.It mulches great, great cut, its a gas hog. I love the machine, even the pistol grips are comfy.

wriken

11-07-2002, 04:33 PM

I had my helper stop and take this pic today, not very good, and this lawn was cut about a 1.5 weeks ago. if I can get it to post.

wriken

11-07-2002, 04:35 PM

Heres my cub w/vacumn attached

TJLC

11-07-2002, 08:01 PM

Originally posted by geogunn
tjlc--in your opinion, what are the changes that you feel that lesco ought to make in order to make it a "every day use" mower?

trav--as for my experience with the hydro I have none.

but my experience with the 48 belt has been good. that machine is tough and gets the job done.

but if you are looking for a mulcher, buyer beware! mine sucks for mulching leaves but mulches grass fine.

the old KAW 14 is getting a little tired, I am thinking of a remotor to the 17.

buy that 52 hydro!

GEO

Geo, there were 4 things I didn't care for about the Lesco unit.

1) The opc levers made my hands sore as hell, Exmark's DO NOT.
2) The dual tracking levers to me were a pain. Exmarks tracking system is 1 knob.
3) The warranty was not as good as Exmarks warranty.
4) For service my Lesco dealer would have to send my mower out to be repaired.

These are things I didn't care for but that does not mean I would never consider a Lesco mower. IMHO, for the money, it is a decent machine.

The mowers are awesome, perfect strips, easy to maintain and i couldn't say enough about the guys at my local dealer.

There are lots of mowers available around here but the more i watch the area is starting to turn Lesco green.

Trav

11-07-2002, 11:10 PM

is the peco bagging system a vac type?

Boycea

11-08-2002, 12:02 AM

Trav,
The Peco bagging system is a vac type bagger. It looks something similar to the one Wriken has on his Cub Z.

Envy Lawn Service

11-08-2002, 12:06 AM

Earthscapes,

Do you have any pics for us???

Oh and are those rollers on the back of the deck height adjustable?

wriken

11-08-2002, 02:59 AM

envy, the rollers are not adjustable, one of these forumns I posted some pics of the rollers on the cub.

Earthscapes

11-08-2002, 09:18 AM

Nope i don't have lawn pictures and truthfully i don't know why.

Buckeye1

11-08-2002, 09:26 AM

Trav How much $$ for the 48 hydro?

I just bought a new (2001) mtd pro 52" hydro w/Vanguard 18hp for $2900. Not sure how good (or bad) a deal it was.

Trav

11-08-2002, 12:57 PM

the 48" is 3399.00. 36" is 3299.00.

wriken

11-08-2002, 04:22 PM

I'll try and post a pic of the rollers mounted to the deck. Also I paid 3000. for my MTD 48" hydro, its a 2001.

Trav

11-08-2002, 06:18 PM

does anyone know how much the peco bagging system is? And is it worth it? thanks

wriken

11-08-2002, 06:36 PM

worth every cent, we don't tarp anymore. I paid 1900.00 for the cub style, installed.

Earthscapes

11-08-2002, 08:20 PM

I think i paid $2,100 for it 2 months back. The system is awesome back wet grass like nothing else i have seen.

There is a company that cuts a neighbor to one of my customers and they use a 48" Walker mower and i laugh every time they raise the deck to pull out the wad of wet grass that is stuck in the deck.

wriken

11-08-2002, 10:20 PM

Buckeye, my dealer up here has MTD pro's 52" belt, for around 1800.00, might be worth the drive if your into belts. You got a great buy on your 52 hydro.

TOMMY1115

11-11-2002, 02:47 PM

The Lesco and MTD/Cub come off the same assy line. Obviously painted differently.
A few years ago Lesco and MTD made a joint venture to create CTP. Half owned by each company. Took Lesco's technology of the equipment itself and MTD's tech. of how to produce and merge the two together.
Prior to that, all Lesco's equip was hand made!!